Truth Be Told
by Meikura
Summary: This is a story on Rokuta, who has a bit of a romance with an OC character named Anna-Lucia.
1. Chapter 1

And now a word from your fan fiction writer: Hi to whoever is out there reading this. This fan fiction is going to be Rokuta aka Enki (who's my favourite character in the 12 kingdoms) and just some random girl I made up named Anna-Lucia. I thought he'd deserved a little romance because he's just an awesome Kirin. Basically, have a read and see if you like. Make note, at the start Rokuta has black hair and brown eyes to hide his Kirin heritage.

_**That Distant Place**_

Rokuta collapsed on the ground from weakness. This wasn't right. It'd never happened to him before in his life, so why now?

How was it possible that he couldn't manage to get back to En? He'd never before been in such a difficult situation, of course that wasn't entirely true when dealing with Shouryu.

His body was weak from trying but he knew he would have to get back somehow. En needed him, they wouldn't survive alone with the half witted decisions of its king. And for another thing, he had no idea how to survive in this world anymore.

So much had changed since he'd been that little boy, starving and left to die in the forest by his own parents. Even thought Rokuta understood why his parent's had done it, it still didn't change the cold fact that they had left him there to die.

He'd come to look for Taiki, as he did at the start of each new month and at the end of his search he would always return empty handed, with no relief for the kingdom of Tai.

His friend was long seen by anyone and it made Rokuta's heart ache not knowing if his friend was safe and healthy.

His Kirin heart was so delicate that it literally caused him pain not knowing about his young friend. The hurt had gone so far as to a gentle anger with the gods for taking the boy away.

"Enki, you must rest," Yokuki urged, appearing before him and brushing the stray blonde hairs that had fallen in front of his sweaty forehead. "You've made yourself so weak."

Rokuta couldn't get his eyes to focus anywhere and he gasped. "I…have to get back…En needs me."

"If you keep this up, En won't have a Kirin left to help them," she tried to pursue him, laying him against the alley's wall. "Now rest. Exhaustion will not help you."

Rokuta tried to resist his heavy and traitorous eyelids which were slowly drooping but when Yokuki began to sing gently to him, he found himself stripped of all strength and falling into unconsciousness.

Yokuki stayed by his side, making sure he would not revert to his Kirin form. This world was to stay unbeknownst of such things as Kirin and it was job to keep her Enki protected.

Anna-Lucia muttered a curse under her breath at the outrageously high price she was paying for a couple of carrots. Just because there was a drop in Economy did not mean a person was allowed to overcharge for a couple of measly carrots which didn't even look that look bulked.

"Stupid cravings for carrots," she cursed herself, handing the man some money. "Why can't you have normal cravings like chocolate or chewing gum? No, you've got to find the one thing that's suffering a whole lot of inflation, don't you?"

Passing a shop window as she stuffed the receipt into her purse, she paused and looked into the reflection with a sigh.

She was five foot tall and had the body of a ten year old gymnast. No guy ever went near her because they preferred to run after the voluptuous six foot something girls who didn't eat anything and still managed to have breasts. It wasn't the fact that she was a midget or suffered from dwarfism, in fact she was perfectly normal looking and had no mental deformities. She'd just come from a long line of very short people.

Many people called her doll because of her peculiar name and by how she looked.

She had long brown hair, which curled gently around her face and skin as pale and smooth as porcelain as a doll, with almond shaped green eyes. Of course she never anything that resembled anything frilly, otherwise people might mistake her for a life sized doll.

Instead she enjoyed wearing black tailored pants, with any sort of shirt, that could range from just colour to all sorts of writing and phrases which made people stop and try to read whatever it said.

Cutting through the crowd as she crossed the road, she ducked into the alleyway which was the much shorter route home, even if there was the occasional rat that would run buy.

Living by herself, Anna Lucia had found that being scared of a little thing like going down an alleyway was nothing. Fending and providing for herself had taught her valuable skills which kept her from going insane to the solitary of living alone.

Hurrying down the alley, her foot caught and something and she found herself sprawled out on the ground, about to kick whatever had made her fall into the giant puddle of muddy water.

It was then she came across the realisation that the object she'd fallen over was a foot and it was then she became aware of the cosplaying boy of her age, laying against the wall, looking worse for wear.

_Just leave him there Anna, _she thought to herself, biting the bottom of her lip. Her home wasn't far; practically the end of the alleyway. _Would you want to be left alone like that? Vulnerable? _Sighing and pulling her bag to her shoulder, she grabbed the boy, propping his arm around her shoulders._ If I die, I'm blaming myself. _

Managing to hobble the rest of the way home, she was surprised that he wasn't as heavy as he looked. Though it was still hard to carry someone the same height as her up a small flight of stairs, before trying to unlock the door with one hand.

Switching on a light, she immediately dropped the bags and closed the door with a foot before carrying him over to the couch to lay him down gently, putting the only pillow on the couch under his head before running to get a blanket.

As much as it made her feel guilty not turning the heater on, Anna-Lucia knew she couldn't afford such luxuries. Even if she wanted to do it for a charitable reason.

Looking around at her small apartment she snorted. There was nothing really luxurious about it. There were three rooms; her bedroom, the bathroom and the lounge room/kitchen.

Each one had water-stained walls, with cracks everywhere and the sound of rats running across the roof. She wouldn't be surprised if they were a foot long, with their scurrying sounding more like someone pounding a hammer, especially when she was trying to fall asleep.

"Alas," she sighed sarcastically, pulling the carrots out of the bag and chopping them into sticks. "One day you're gonna be squashed under the roof and your corpse will be devoured by rats. No expensive funeral for you."

Grabbing a carrot stick she munched into it before grabbing a bowl and dumping them into it, placing it in front of the unconscious boy before wondering off to take a nice hot shower. It seemed to have the hot water live so shortly but of course, if she couldn't afford heating, there wasn't much chance of paying for nice long showers either.

Rokuta blinked his eyes and took a deep breath before sitting up quickly and scanning the room. To the left of him came the sound of running water and on the small box in front of him was a bowl of carrots.

"Yokuki?"

'_Yes Enki?'_

"Where am I?"

'_I'm unsure. A girl picked you up from the wall and brought you to what looks to be a room in a building. Perhaps it's a peasant?'_

"Nobody uses that term anymore," Rokuta corrected, reaching for a carrot. He was still very weak and predicted that his legs wouldn't hold him if he tried to stand.

'_Well, she certainly isn't royalty by her…humble home.'_

"I'm grateful to whoever has taken me off those cold streets," Rokuta said, looking to the sound of the water being cut off. "I'm still to weak to return to En. If only there was a way to tell Shouryu, or at least to make sure to tell him not to do anything reckless while I'm gone."

'Indeed, it seems we are in a strange predicament.'

Rokuta opened his mouth to answer her but stayed silent when a girl walked out of the door to his left. A porcelain doll was the first thing he thought of when he saw the tiny figure; beautiful and fragile and yet so human.

The girl looked like she was trying to decide whether to run away or stand her ground. She choose to stand her ground, lifting her chin as defiantly as any Youma might.

"What was a kid like you doing out on those streets?" She asked, eyeing him up and down.

Anna-Lucia had no way of telling what kind of character he was. His hair was black, with large brown eyes and he sat upright like royalty might, though he had no empowerments accept for the weird clothing he wore and a beaded necklace hanging low from his neck.

"I'm sick," he answered with a shrug, like it was no big deal that he'd just been lying out on the streets where anything could happen. "I overdid a little with the fresh air and ended up passing out."

_Likely story,_ Anna muttered darkly before nodding her head. "my name's Anna-Lucia and by the looks of you, you'll be crashing on the couch tonight. What's your name kid?"

"Rokuta and I'm not a kid," he snapped, shaking his head. "I happen to be a lot older then I look."

"Right."

Turning her back and rolling her eyes, she pulled out a packet of cheap mince which was still dripping with blood before dumping it onto the counter next to her fruit.

Not hygienic, but she wasn't exactly running a five class restaurant.

"So Rokuta, I'm assuming you're hungry? Do you want some hamburgers?" It was then she realized the pale look on his face and she walked over to him. "Yo, are you okay? You look kinda sick."

"Get away from me," he whispered hysterically, his eyes widened with fear. "Your h…hands, they're covered in blood."

"Your point being?"

"The smell of blood, it makes me sick. Please put it away."

"Okay already, geesh, drama queen much?"

Anna-Lucia quickly put the meat back in the fridge before washing her hands thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Rokuta was holding his stomach, feeling queasy and sick at the smell of blood that seemed to surround him so suddenly.

He felt himself going weak again and his breathing getting heavy. He wasn't going to stay awake much longer, not with the state his body was in. If he were standing, he'd have already fallen to his knees in a gasping heap.

Suddenly he fell forward from the couch, his stomach heaving up everything he'd eaten in the past twenty four hours. The floor was covered in his bile and he lay his head against the couch rying to breathe.

"Wow," Anna-Lucia shouted, running up next to him, helping him back up to the couch, "you weren't kidding when you said you hated the sight of blood. I'm sorry."

"I should be apologizing," Rokuta said weakly looking at the mess he'd made, disgusted that he'd done such a childish thing, unable to control his body. "I've made a mess all over your clean floor."

"Believe me buddy, it wasn't exactly clean to begin with, this'll just give me an excuse to mop it. I've been meaning to get around to doing it, ya know?"

Rokuta didn't bother nodding or shaking his head but rather closed his eyes, waiting to fall back to sleep. He heard her footsteps fade away but then come back again slowly as he felt his head lifted gently with cool water pouring down his throat.

"Okay buddy, you just rest for now. I'll have a salad for you by the time you wake up."

As she said more comforting words to him, he slowly began to feel his body become less tense and more willing to fall asleep much easier.


	2. Chapter 2

A new week and a new chapter reading. I'm going top try and come out with a chapter a week but at the moment it's getting difficult. The teachers keep piling me with homework and I'm about to try out for a play. Anyhow, I encourage all those readers out there to leave a review. It helps me know how many people are actually reading. Thanks for those who've already commented, for a second I'd almost given up. I work better with encouragement, so I hope you all like it.

_**Softly Whisper Loneliness**_

Anna-Lucia tied her hair severely into a bun, making sure that none of her loose strands escaped it.

Sometimes she cursed her mother's European side for giving her such hard to deal with hair. Both her parents had passed away and she found much more things in common with her European side.

Her name had been passed down her family tree for generations making her feel old, much like the name she'd been given.

With her parents dead and no wish to be passed from various foster parent's, she'd become independent, finishing her Year 10 schooling before going to work at the abattoirs on the packaging line.

The sound of screaming animals wasn't the most pleasant noise to wake up to but it kept the income coming. Nobody seemed to hire women for building apprenticeships, not that she'd go very far in that field. After all, failing woodwork wasn't the most convincing reference on a resume, especially for trying to get an apprenticeship which required more than its fair share of wood.

Grabbing her bag, Anna-Lucia grabbed the remote for the TV before switching it onto the new.

The sudden burst of sound from the TV made it a rude awakening for Rokuta who sat up rubbing his head. It was very much like the nagging of the king's consultants urging him to attend the morning conference.

"Here's the remote for the TV," Anna-Lucia smiled putting it in his hand before walking to the fridge and pulling out some fried rice. "Try not to rot your brain watching it all day. Here's some rice for you to eat and I'll try to bring home something to eat for dinner on my way back from work."

Rokuta rubbed his eyes disoriented as to what was going on. There was a small black box in front of him, showing moving images. He'd seen similar, larger versions of this amazing invention on the large towers as he'd walk down the streets.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking at what she was wearing. They were almost tattered, much like the clothes worn by the people in kingdoms without its king or Kirin.

"I've got work," she shrugged, picking up her keys. "Don't you have a part time job? Never mind, I've gotta head off before I'm late for work. Try not to walk around to much. Uh, the bathrooms over there and I should be back before five."

"Five?"

"O'clock, the time? Ah screw it, I've got to go."

Anna-Lucia gave one last look around, hoping that leaving him here wasn't going to end with all her belongings stolen. Re-buying everything was the last thing she could afford.

'Just believe in trust,' she told herself, before walking out the door, trying not to run back and kicking him out.

"This noise is so loud," Rokuta complained, looking at the strange, rectangular device in his hand. "A remote huh? Well, it's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen."

Yokuki appeared before him, taking the device from his hands. "It must have some way of shutting off this noise."

"It's almost as bad as Shouryu whining," Rokuta joked, shutting up as soon as he got an annoyed look from Yokuki. "So, how do we turn this thing off?"

"I don't know," she frowned, cautiously pressing a button.

The screen quickly flickered before there was a completely new picture on the box.

"Hey, that's pretty cool," Rokuta smiled, politely grabbing the device back. He pressed another button and suddenly the image had split into two different images.

"Enki, try to turn it off," Yokuki pleaded.

He didn't want to. This device seemed to interesting to be left alone but it was annoying her and it was hurting his ears.

So he starting pressing all the buttons until finally the screen when completely black and Yokuki gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank Tentei. Enki, we have to leave."

"But why?"

"We can't stay here. I'll carry you somewhere else. It's bad enough that you stayed here the night!"

"I don't see the problem. It was very gracious of the her."

Yokuki threw her hands up. "Enki, you don't belong in this world! Communicating with this human could be dangerous. She's desperate, perhaps even enough to trade you into the other humans. You know humans greed. Too much blood and even I can't stop you from changing into your Kirin form. I wouldn't put it past the girl to trade you in for some money and food. These people are untrustworthy."

"Yokuki," Rokuta scowled, shocked the bold statement made by his Nyokai. "She took me off the streets, when she could have just left me there." His voice cracked as his memory strayed back to the abandonment of his childhood. "It takes human's a lot of strength to trust strangers."

"Well I don't like it," Yokuki fumed, disappearing.

Usually Rokuta would try to call his Nyokai back when she became angry but for some reason he wanted to stand his ground with defending Anna-Lucia. There was something about her, something showed a wisdom and hurt beyond her years.

Anna-Lucia was still so young to have no parents to care for her. Living like this seemed cruel and she probably spent cold nights alone, sleeping in rags.

Her abode was far from humble, more tragic if anything. It appeared that she could barely take care of herself, let alone letting in a weak stranger and sharing her food with him.

The girl was so beautiful, much like a doll or the former princess of Hou, though Anna-Lucia seemed a lot prettier on the inside.

There was a tough exterior which seemed to hit out at anyone who tried to penetrate it's stone walls surrounding her heart, which was probably as fragile as crystal.

A rose petal in the dirt.

Anna-Lucia was exhausted by the time she'd walked through the door. The whole packaging line had broken down so everyone had to wait around an extra hour just to catch up on the work.

"Sorry I'm so late," she shouted, chucking her coat to the ground. "I swear those imbeciles will never learn how to fix their machinery properly. Bunch of apes."

Rokuta felt something inside him lift when he awoke to hear Anna-Lucia's annoyed but beautiful voice, which made him feel confused.

This feeling was quick and fleeting as soon as he caught the scent of blood hanging around her like some kind of sickly odour that stuck to her skin similar to a parasite.

"You smell of blood again," he gasped, banging the heel of his hand to his head, rubbing his horn to try and calm the light-headedness that was over coming him. "Why is that scent all over you?"

Anna-Lucia swore, running to the other side of the room and grabbing the Vanilla air spray, emptying half the can to try and get rid of the smell, before rushing to the windows and opening them.

"I'll go take a shower," she apologised running to the bathroom. Two showers in two days, this wasn't going to be very cheap. Plus she was sure Rokuta would need a shower at some stage. She could already see the bill slowly increasing.

Making sure to thoroughly rub herself down with soup, running extra shampoo through her hair, she dried herself, thanking herself silently that she always left an extra pile of clothes in the bathroom.

Exiting with a sheepish smile, she picked up the container full of stewed leeks.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Not really," he said, continuing to rub that same spot on his forehead.

"Maybe I should get you some painkillers," Anna-Lucia suggested going to the cupboard. Filling a glass full of water, she put the pill in one of Rokuta's hands and the glass in the other.

When he looked at her dumbfounded she lifted an eyebrow and said almost with mock, "you put the pill in your mouth and swallow it down with water. Didn't your parents ever give you painkillers before?"

"I barely knew my parents," Rokuta admitted, doing as she said.

Anna Lucia made an oh with her mouth and suddenly felt awkward.

"It's okay," he smiled, trying to comfort her. He crossed his legs and held onto his knees. "It was a long time ago. Like I said, I'm a lot older than I look. Trust me on that."

"If you say so," Anna-Lucia said, opening the lid of the container. "So does that mean you're on your own to?"

"I wouldn't say that," Rokuta said slowly, careful not to say the wrong thing. He grabbed one of the limp pieces of leek and took a bite, wincing at the awful taste. "I'm not from around here so it's kind of difficult to explain my situation."

"Uh-huh."

Anna-Lucia was about to state that she wasn't entirely Japanese when Rokuta fell forward, gasping, quickly turning pale.

"What did you give me?" He demanded, holding his head.

"Just some pain killers!" Anna-Lucia exclaimed pushing him back gently and running for a cloth to dab the sweat off of his forehead. "You should have told me you were allergic to Paracetamol. Hell, I didn't know people could be allergic to this stuff!"

"I didn't know," Rokuta gasped trying to push down this pain that felt like his insides were swelling up.

"That's it, I'm calling a doctor."

"No, please don't."

The pleading in his voice made Anna-Lucia pause and look at Rokuta. He seemed afraid of mention of doctors.

"Rokuta, are you in trouble with the law?"

Rokuta had to pause. If he admitted the truth, she might turn him in but if he lied and agreed to her accusation than maybe she would turn him out. If this pain got any worse, he might die.

"Yes," he lied, deciding that he could not endanger his Kirin heritage. "Please, just don't call the police."

"Did you harm anyone?" Anna-Lucia asked, crossing her arms. "Have you killed?"

Shocked at her bold and horrifying statement, Rokuta shook his head so violently that it made him dizzier. "I don't kill. The mere sight of blood makes me sick, so how can you think such a thing?"

"I just needed to know, okay? God, why me?"

"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable."

"Just don't, okay? I'm going to be in my room."

"Anna-Lucia…"

"I said, I'm going to my room. Good night."

This was childish Anna-Lucia thought, as she practically ran into her room and barricaded the door with the door.

What if he was dying? Was she going to just let him die on her couch? What was she supposed to do? She only knew how to look after herself. Caring for another human being was a completely different matter.

I warned you that trusting the human was a mistake, Yokuki whispered in Enki's mind, as he felt her hand brush his cheek. _'She's a complete mess and hasn't cared for you well at all.'_

"But she hasn't called anyone else either," Rokuta spoke softly. "That has to count for something.

'_Being so sick has made your mind a muddle,'_ Yokuki sighed. _'As soon as your well enough, we are leaving this world.'_

"I know," Rokuta whispered shutting his eyes, picturing Anna-Lucia.

In his mind, she stood alone, with nobody else around her. Just darkness; a picture of a small girl, looking for someone to hold her hand and show her that she was special.

For some strange reason, a small tear rolled down his cheek at the thought of her loneliness.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I'm so sorry guys, I completely forgot that I had holidays and I had no access to computers which could download my stories. Please forgive me. I hope everyone had a great Easter, I managed to eat a 200g dark chocolate Lindt bunny. Wow, is that a lot of rich chocolate, though, not as much as my iced chocolate I'd bought from Starbucks. I was twitching from choco overload for the rest of the day. If anyone has any questions about this fan fiction, please feel free to ask. I love answering questions. **_

_**Farwell isn't the Answer**_

_3 Days Later…_

Rokuta got up and looked around the small room, which he'd almost memorised every characteristic of. The stained walls, the faded colours, even the smell of animal urine, soured alcohol and something else he couldn't quite place.

Looking down on the couch he'd spent that past five days on, he touched the surface. Though it was not silk, the material seemed a comfort now that he was strong enough to leave.

After he'd taken that strange little pill, everything had been fading in and out until yesterday when he was finally able to focus and found himself in perfect health.

The past few days, the conversation between Anna-Lucia and himself had been dry and there had been few words between the two of them. She seemed hostile towards him.

He'd betrayed any trust she'd found in him, the first couple of days he'd been there. Now everything she said to him, seemed distant, as if he were some kind of painful memory in her past that couldn't be repressed. Humans were very complicated creatures to understand.

Perhaps because his lack of understanding for the creatures was why he fought with Shouryu so often.

"I'm so glad you're finally well Enki," Yokuki smiled, appearing in front of him. "We can finally get back to En and you can forget that anything happened."

"It seems cruel to leave her without a note or at least something to say thankyou. And, she did keep such good care of me. Repaying her in such a way of leaving before thanking her hospitality seems like a very discourteous thing to do, don't you think?"

"It's not your concern. Your concern is En and its people. Now let's go before she gets back and finds you healthy again. Who knows what she might do then."

Rokuta snorted at his Nyokai's silly comment. Why should he fear anything that Anna-Lucia would have to say? With the way she'd distanced herself from him; it would be no surprise if she'd see him off with a smile of relief.

But at least it would be a smile and more than he'd received over the past few days. As the week had progressed, she'd come home more exhausted then the night before. The poor child was working herself to the bone and at such a young age.

How could he even try to imagine what she was going through? Before he'd discovered he was a Kirin, he'd lived in poverty as a child but had never worked a day in his life.

The only work that he knew of performing was politics and that was hardly a job since Shouryu never seemed to listen to anything he had to say about ongoing events.

"I think I should stay," Rokuta declared, walking around the room. He felt like he was trying to convince himself more then he was trying to convince Yokuki, which seemed like a worrying prospect. "It would be rude of me not to thank her hospitality. Besides, I'm in no rush to go back to En to listen to Shouryu ask me where I've been."

"But Enki…"

"This is my choice Yokuki. I'm going to stay and wait to say farewell to her. That's my finale word on it."

Pouting, Yokuki disappeared with the annoyed scowl of a young child on her face. Rokuta wondered what had gotten into his Nyokai. Her strange behaviour was slowly beginning to irritate him and he'd never before been irritated by her.

After this farewell everything would probably return to normal and Anna-Lucia would probably forget him without a second thought, while he would live on remembering that sweet face.

It was getting dark very quickly and Anna-Lucia found herself wishing she had some kind of umbrella just in case it started to pour but more to protect her from anyone on the streets.

The clouds were ominous and when the sky was bad, everything else was to. There was going to be a storm and she for one, didn't want to get caught in it.

Rushing down the small alleyway, she heard footsteps come from behind her and before she could react, her whole body was shoved up against the wall.

A hand shot out and slapped her hard across the face, before she smelt the rotten stench of sour alcohol.

"Give me your wallet, cow and I'll let you go," came a gruff and scratchy male voice. "And don't try anything funny, I can snap your neck without breaking a sweat."

Anna-Lucia shook with fear as she took out her wallet and with shaky hands, handed it over.

The man, tore it open, taking the two hundred dollar notes which was supposed to be her rent money, before banging her head against the wall and making a run for it.

Tears filled her eyes, as she curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth, trying to control her gasps for air.

_Why now?_ She thought to herself, trying to gather her jumbled thoughts. I_t's never happened before, so why now? Why did I have to walk down this alley today? Why didn't I just choose the safe way to go. Now my own stupidity has taken away my money. _

There was a fear gathering in her mind that he might come back to make sure she stayed silent. It was her vanity that kept her frozen in the spot, not making any move to get to the safety of home. She didn't want to show Rokuta her tears or weakness.

It was stupid; in fact it was complete foolishness. She would put herself in more danger rather then face up to a practical stranger and explain what had happened. She'd once been told long ago that men had pride but women had vanity.

_I'll go back when I've finished crying,_ she decided, wiping the tears away with her sleeves. Her cheek stung and by the sharp pain that she felt every time a tear streamed down it, she suspected that the skin had been broken. _I can't…I can't show Rokuta this weakness. My stupid weakness and baby tears._

She grabbed a tissue from her pocket and dabbed away the blood, wincing at the pain it brought her from doing so. She dabbed, until she'd cleared up all the blood.

Nobody walking along the main street, noticed the small girl, huddled in the alleyway, softly crying.

Rokuta quickly became worried when he looked up to the strange device which seemed to show the time. As far as he could understand it, the time was six and normally Anna-Lucia would return home no later then 10 minutes past five.

When the door opened and Anna-Lucia walked through it, his heart leapt with relief for a second before he realised that he could smell the faint scent of fresh blood on her.

Her eyes were blackened, as if someone had smeared coal all over them and across her cheek, had formed an ugly, black and blue bruise, with a cut on it.

Anna-Lucia crossed the room, her eyes constant to the floor as she entered her room and closed the door, with no force. It seemd like she had no strength and tried to force it closed without any real effort to really try to close it.

Stunned, Rokuta stood there, unsure what to do. He'd expected to tell her goodbye and leave quickly, hoping to go with little regret, knowing she'd be strong enough to make it on her own. Now, his head was reeling as to what to do.

_I can't leave her like this,_ he thought determinably, clutching his hands together. _What if I stay a little longer, just to make sure she gets better and doesn't have to go through this alone? But I can't stay here any longer either. But this could happen to her again._

So many buts and what if's spread across his mind and he felt a slow headache approaching.

There was no question to what he should do, after he thought about it. His heart was telling him that this person was distressed and needed help; his help. Who else could she turn to?

Taking in the deepest breath he could muster, he opened her door and glanced in.

Anna-Lucia was lying on her bed, looking blankly at the wall. Her face had tears streaming down it, even though she didn't make a sound: not even a small whimper or an angry retort for his intrusion.

"Anna-Lucia?" Rokuta stopped at the end of her bed and sat down cross legged. "What's the matter?"

"What does it matter?" She asked, her voice shaky. He could feel her whole body was tensed. She looked at him and her dead gaze tore a hole into his Kirin heart. He'd seen the same gaze when a child was hungry, or when a mother had lost a child. "You look like you're better and dressed to go. Did you come in to say goodbye then?"

"I can't leave you like this," Rokuta pleaded. "Not in a place like this. You barely eat, you don't bathe unless you absolutely must and you hardly get any sleep and when you do, you have nightmares."

"Are you done?" She didn't wait for him to reply as she spat out, "just because I don't live like a queen doesn't give you any small scrap of right to judge my lifestyle. I'm sorry if living here for a few days has disgusted you to no end but now that you're better, you can go."

"You can't keep on living like this," Rokuta interjected, clutching the covers and giving her the look a begging dog might give. "Not like this."

"And what am I supposed to do? Inherit money from some rich, dead uncle I never knew about?"

"You can…" Rokuta coughed as his voice broke slightly. "You can come back with me, to my home."

"I don't take charity. I work for a living; I don't laze about and get people to pay food and board for me."

"It wasn't meant as charity. I live in a big place and I'm sure if you feel that strongly about it, we can find you some kind of work."

"Not interested."

"I'm not leaving here without you," he warned, feeling his rage build up. It was almost like he was fighting with Shouryu. "You're going to come with me because you deserve better then this."

Before Anna-Lucia could get another word in, she felt heavy and her head fell against the pillow as he body went limp.

Rokuta sighed. There was only one option. To take her to En. He just hoped the decision would be the right one. After all, she may have a completely different reaction and love the place.

"Please do not let me regret this decision," he prayed to the gods, as he brushed the hair out of her face and dabbed away her tears with the dirty cover. Perhaps she wouldn't be so angry if she woke up in something other then moth chewed sheets.


End file.
